Improvement in machines for combing- cotton



N. PETERS. FHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. Df,

iliade 51am jim.

'Letters Patent No. 99,641, datedFebruary-8,1870.

. l. IMPROVEJVIENT I MACIES FOR COMBING'COTTON,`&C.

The Schedule referred Vto these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

To all whom 'it may concern:

vBe it known that I, HEZEKIAH GONANT, of the county of Providence, and State of Bhode Island, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Combing Cotton, or similar fibrous material; and I do hereby declare that .thefollowing specification, taken in connection with the drawings,'makiug a part of the same, isa full, clear, and exact' description thereof.

Figure 1 is a front elevation.

Figure 2 is a rear elevation.

Figures 3 and 4 are details of some of the parts.

In the machine hereinafter described,l the end' of the lap is presented to the combing-cylinder, and while held between a set of jaws, is combed before a tuft Vis detached. The end so combed is then seized by a second set of jaws, and the end of a tuft'then detachefll, is combed by the same cylinder, simultaneously "with the repetition of the combingoperation upon the raw end` of the lap. The principle of the machine, as `exhibited in its organization, is the Ycombination of two'sets of vibrating nipping-jaws, with a single revolving combing-cylin der. Each set of jaws is furnished withfeeding-rollers, travelling with it, and the `two setsl are s o arranged that the effect of their simultaneous movement toward the combing-cylinder is to draw out from the lap a tuft, in the direction of the line oi'. its libre, and sub-l mit-the nncombed ends of lap'and tutt simultaneously, or in quick alternation, to the action of the comb. The results soughtrto be accomplished are greater simplicity of action, and greater perfection and economy of execution than is, in my opinion, possessed by any. previous machine of. its class.

The machine is speciallyV designed for the combingl of cotton, but it can, with 4slight modification, he a'ppliedto comb any other brous material which can be formed into alap.

Referring to the drawings, it is to be understood that a rol-l iof lapping, previously prepared, is to be placed upon 'the supporting-rollers A Aiand is held in place by the standards a a. n l

Bis the ,main or principal shaft, from which the greater part of the subsidiary motions are derived. In this instance, motion is given to the shaft B by a spur gear, O, upon a countershaft O1, (fig. 2,) such gear C engaging with the teeth of the larger wheel O2. D D are,'respectively, rocker-shafts, extending the whole length of the machine, upon .the same side,

parallel with eachother, and eqidistant from the axis of` the combing-cylinder E, (see the same insection, figs. 3 and`4.) t

Attached to radial arms F, projectingfrom each of theserocker-shafts, is a set of nipp'er' jaws, b b b', and just above-such jaws are feeding-rollers c c, (figs: and 4.)

A vibratory movement is imparted to the rockershafts D D', and consequently to the jaws pertaining to` them, by the cam-plates G G, figs. 1 and 2, (one for each rocker,) which are mounted on the shaft B.

These plates have grooved cam-faces, which are similar in outline, and operate the rocker-shafts through the media of the links H H" and rocker-arms I l. This portion of the mechanism is made adjustable, so that the movement of the jaws, relatively to each other, can be timed, as desired, and also the arc of vibra-tion be regulated.

The bearings of the rocker-shafts D D are set inarms R R, radiating from lghe axis of the main shaft B, which arms have their position regulated by adjusting-screws, so that the axes of the said shafts D D' can be brought nearer together, or be 'further separated, whereby the distance between the faces of the two sets of jaws b b b' b can be regulated to accommodate di'erent lengths of staple. ff?

Let it bennderstood that the end of the roll of lap-` ping, which has been previously supposedto bei-esting on the rollers A A, is conducted betweemthe'upper set of feeding-rollers c c, and projecting beyond the faces of the nipping-jaws b b, (iig. 3,) belonging to the same. The movement of the cam-plate G causes the said set of jaws to present the end of such lap to the combing-cylinder E, which, bing mounted on the shaft B, is constantly rotating. I After the end of the lap has been combed, the further rotation of the camplate causes the jaws to move away from such comb. By the time that such jaws have reached the end "of their path of moyement, away from the comb, the up-VV per set of feeding-rollers c c, is set in motion, through the agency of the starwheel d, which obtains an intermittant movement from a pin, projecting from the side of a disk, E', (fig. 2,) mounted upon the shaft J, whose bearings are in the vibratory arms F.

This shaft J has a regular rotatory movement, obtained through the pinions K K1, from a movement obtained from the gear-wheel K2, on the principal shaftB, transmitted through tbe gearwheel K3.

Thesame shaft J .(fig. 2) carries a cam, L, (see also figs. 3 and 4,) which controls the periods of opening the nipping-jaws b b, and such cam is so shaped and set, that the jaws will be opened cotemporaneously with the movement of the feeding-rollers c c, and, upon the instant that the end of the lap has reached its furthest point ot travel in the direction away from the combing-cylinder E.` At the same instant that the feeding-rollers c\c commence their movement, the supporting 'rollers A A, for the lap,`commence to rotate, such rollers :being s et in motion by the toothed wheel M, (lig. 1,) on the end of one ofthe feed-rollers c, through the train ofl gears 1 2 3 4.. Thus the lap is unrolled just to the extent required by the demands of the feedinghrollers.

be as indicated at fig. 4. The feed-rollers of the lower set of jaws 'are putin motion at thesame time as the rollers oi' the upper set, and both sets of jaws are open. The en d of the lap, hanging pendent from lthe upper rollers, is taken between the lower rollers, land both sets of jaws now commence to move toward the comb, both closing fast upon the cotton which spans the space between their faces. The result is, that a tuft is-detached from the lap, by a pull in a straight line, paralh-Lor nearly so,with a line drawn tangent to both the circles of which the paths of vibration of the jaws are respectively arcs.

The tu'ft, so detached, is held in the lower jaws b' b', by its combed end. Its opposite end is, by the vibration of the jaws, presented to the cylinder E, and combed. At the same time, or nearly so, the raw end of the lap, heldby the jaws b b, is brought lup to the same cylinder and combed. When the two sets of jaws are again in the position shown at iig. 4, the tuft (now completely combed,) by the movement of the lower set of rollers, before described, is allowed to de- 4posit itself upon the collecting-apron N, fig. 1. From thence it is condensed, and taken off in any preferred way.

The machine is furnished with a suitable brushclearing cylinder, O, dotier-cylinder P, and stripper Q, for collecting the waste, (figs. 2 and 3,) which require no descriptiolli. Y v

I am aware that in the English Letters Patent, granted t0 Smith 85 Wilson, l1`ebruary 2,l867, an apparatus is shown for combing tibi-ous material, involving the employment of two sets ot' viblu'ating nippingjaws, in combination with one or more cardiug-aprons, but in this case, the arrangement of the two sets of jaws, wit-h respect to the combing-aprons, and the general organization of the machine, is such that the tihre of the material to be combed must be broken, in the act of' being transferred from the tirst to the second set of jaws.' While, therefore, I do not claim the ernployment of two sets of vibrating jaws as new, nor their combination with-an apparatus for combing tufts of cotton or other material, while held by such jaws,

What I do claim as of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

v In a machine for combing cotton or other ibrous material, the combination of a combing-cylinder, E, with an upper set of vibratory nipping-jaws, provided. with feedingrollers,and a lower set ot' similar jaws provided with delivery-rollers and collecting-apron,arranged with relationto the said delivery rollers, substantially as shown and described. A

HEZEKIAH CONANT.

' vWitnesses: f

JOHN' D. TH URs'roN, PETER F. HUGHES. 

